Columbus Ohio real estate

Today at  1:30 p.m. students from Colonial Hills Elementary School will gather with community members to plant a tree in honor of Earth Day.  Earth Day 2009 and Arbor Day info from the City of Worthington .PDF

The tree will be planted in Selby Park in the Colonial Hills neighborhood, 358 Selby Boulevard South.

Worthington's Colonial Hills Neighborhood

Worthington's  Colonial Hills History

The image is an Earth Day ecard from Real Living.  I am a real estate agent with Real Living HER in Worthington Ohio.

By wee folk I am not talking children.

It's beginning to look a lot like St. Patrick's Day in Central Ohio. Some communities more than others. 

The Dublin Ohio St. Patrick's Day celebrations are on Saturday March 14,2009.

If Irish is an attitude, Dublin does it well

Columbus - downtown 

Celebrating St. Patrick's Day in Central Ohio 

The traditional Columbus celebrations including the St. Patrick's Day Parade and the Irish Family Reunion are on St. Patrick's Day, Tuesday March 17, 2009, of course.

Worthington Wee Folk have their own door in Old Worthington. The Leprechaun Entrance shown here is right next to the door for the rest of us at  PK O'Ryans Irish Pub in Worthington 

The Leprechaun entrance is at the Irish Pub in Worthington year round.

Compliments of Maureen McCabe - Real Living HER Worthington - 614-388-8249    

The foreclosure on the Worthington Square Mall was in December 2008 I believe.  I visited the mall once at Christmas time, the first time I had gone over since August 2008. The Victoria Secret Store and The Bath and Body Works store were noticeably gone since I visited the mall in late summer.

An article in Business First Columbus last Friday said 19 of the 43 mall spots are filled, about 50 percent. .. reading about the Worthington Square Mall a couple of weeks ago in another local publication I remarked that 50 percent seemed high to me, it seemed like about a third of the mall is occupied to me. Of course the locations on the back of the Worthington Square Mall are included in that number, Amano's, China Way....  and walking around inside the mall I did not see those.  

The shopping area was an open mall when it was built in the 1970's and later enclosed. 

Business First Columbus  - "Foreclosure brings new owner at Worthington Square"

The February 2009,  Business First Columbus article by Dan Eaton says who is still there and which retailers left recently.  If I understand the who's who mish mash regarding the foreclosure ... General Electric Credit  Equities  foreclosed on owner Columbus Retail Inc. who was using CB Ellis to manage the mall for a few years now while they were supposedly remodeling.  GE Capital Equities has put Colliers Turley Martin Tucker Co in place to lease the mall / manage the mall... Colliers Turley Martin Tucker Co.  is using "Jupiter Realty Co., a Chicago asset manager" to manage it?  Mall management has always confused me.

I visited the mall in August 2008 - Worthington Square has a slideshow. The photo here shows Victoria's Secret... in August.

I went to the noon gathering on the Worthington Green today, September 11, 2008.

There were local firemen and policemen there just as there have been other years.  There were members of Lima Company there again this year.

There were short speeches from Harvey Minton the Mayor of Worthington, the Worthington fire chief, the Worthington police chief (I think) and an officer from the Perry Township Police Department. 

A surviver of the attacks on the World Trade Center was there, a woman who was in the South Tower on September 11, 2001,  spoke briefly. 

Philip College, the rector of St. John's Episcopal Church (just east of the Worthington Green's south east quadrant), spoke.   Chuck Gillespie who used to be a meteorologist on Channel 6 - WSYX sang, he also talked about being in the newsroom on September 11, 2001.

The main speaker was Dale Vitale of the Ohio EPA, an attorney and a veteran who talked to the heroes and ordinary people gathered on the Worthington Green today.  Vitale's message or what I got from his speech anyway:

1. Don't forget September 11, 2001.

2. Don't compromise your values (don't become hate filled and seek revenge...)

3. Don't be afraid.

The new CVS is open in Old Worthington... well the new CVS is a couple of weeks old but I had a chance to stop there yesterday.  I am a big CVS shopper...but I go to one of two others, that I pass by just about every day.  I have driven by the new CVS on the corner of High St. and North St. a number of times  since it opened but never had a chance to  stop. 

The new CVS is a big spacious bright modern store inside, a bit more open and bright than my ususal CVSs... or just more lights???

Outside on the street I love the look, of the business being on the street with the parking behind.

I had followed all the articles in the This Week Worthington and the Worthington Suburban Newspaper about the Worthington Planning Commission and the Architectural Review Board's  oversight of the plans and progress of the construction of the new CVS. 

I am sorry that CVS made an offer  the Super Dooper Grocery Store on that corner could NOT refuse because I thought it was great to have a store that was in walking distance for those who live and work in Old Worthington and contiguous neighborhoods. 

The first office I worked in, when I first moved to Columbus was in the building just south of the grocery store... it was an IGA then.  We (Coldwell Banker) shared the parking lot with the IGA.  When the Super Dooper went in and was so successful we had to move because of parking problems.

The open space behind and south of the new CVS building surprised me.   More so when I got out and walked around trying to take photos with my cell phone... excuse the quality of these.  It seems to me as if the lot that Super Dooper was on grew.  Or was another building south of the Super Dooper demolished and I am just not seeing it.

There is space to lease in the building south of the CVS store. 

The new "old Worthington" looking buildings sure make the store fronts on the north-east corner and across High Street look dowdy... if store fronts can look dowdy. \

The image to the right is along High St. looking north toward the Dairy Queen.

Worthington Square is undergoing a remodel.  Stores at Worthington Square include the Talbot's collection (Petites, Kids, Accesories, etc.), Victoria's Secret, Bath & Body,  Ann Taylor, Chico's, Crabtree & Evelyn,  Jos. A. Bank, Pendleton,  Godfry's and White House Black Market... 

The Kroger store has been expanded and remodeled, it is on e of Kroger's  "Fresh Fare" stores.

Map Worthington Square

I walked through the mall Sunday, there is lots of empty space. 

Caribou Coffee is gone, Larson's Toy Store is gone, Acorn is gone. Godfry's is moving to Polaris soon. 

I still love Worthington Square, the fountain, the skylights...

Parts of the City of Worthington are subject to the Architectural Review Board... important parts of Worthington, Old Worthington of course, but also High Street. 

Dublin Granville Rd? 

Here's a map  (pdf) of areas subject to review... I don't see a legend but the peachy areas are subject to the Architectural Review Board?  They are the Architectural Review District... looks like more areas than I realized. Looks like I answered my own question about Dublin Granville Rd.

The architectural review board is the five member Worthington planning commission plus two people "one of whom must be a resident freeholder of the Architectural Review District" according to the rules.

An agent in my office was on the Architectural Review Board when I went to lend moral support to  clients who were summoned to talk to the Worthington Architectural Review Board about changes they had made to their Old Worthington home without asking permission first. Someday I may write about that night.

The Architectural Review Board meet on the second and fourth Thursdays of each month at 7:30 p.m. in the Worthington Municipal Building at 6550 N. High St.  I believe both the Planning Commission and the Architectural Review Board take the month of August off.

The best ice cream in Worthington is Greater's.

Greater's knows location, location, location applies to ice cream as well as real estate. In Central Ohio there's a Graeter's in the "downtown" of many of the suburbs.. well of course in Westerville Graeter's is "The Uptown." The Bethel Road Graeter's produces the ice cream for the Columbus franchised stores and this is the franchises office too.  There are Graeter's Stores on Bethel Rd, in Bexley, Dublin, Easton, Gahanna, Grove City*, Pickerington, Powell, Upper Arlington, Westerville as well as Worthington.  

Back to Worthington... The Greater's location in Worthington is at  654 High Street in Old Worthington.  It's a walk to location from homes in Old Worthington, Kilbourne Village, Colonial Hills and other Worthigton neighborhoods.  It's a walk to location from Riverlea. On summer evenings people line up for ice cream at Graeter's in Worthington.

Graeter'stared in Cincinnati in 1870.  The company has been family owned and operated since 1870. According the their website "Currently the Graeter family operates 12 stores in Cincinnati neighborhoods and has 24 franchised stores located in Columbus, Dayton, Northern Kentucky, Lexington and Louisville."

Graeter's ice cream is still made in the French Pot process.  A French Pot freezer produces only two (or two and a half) gallons of ice cream at a time. The Columbus Greater's production facility on Bethel Road does tours.

Graeter's chocolate chips (big pieces of chocolate, chunks really) are very popular but my favorite flavor of Graeter's Ice Cream is "Coffee."  The Graeter's website says: "We infuse every 2 1/2 gallon batch of ice cream with a pot of exceptionally rich, 100% Arabica Bean coffee. We encourage any coffee fanatic to brew a fresh scoop each morning to start their day!"

* The Grove City Graeter's had a fire and is closed now according to the Graeter's website.

More about Worthington Ohio:

Worthington Ohio

Discover ice cream in Central Ohio ... It's not all about Graeter's but it is all about great ice cream:

Jan. 25, 2007 - Columbus Ice Cream 

Sep. 3, 2006 - Ice Cream Sunday - "Columbus, Ohio, is ice cream heaven"

Aug. 22, 2006 - Road Trip from Columbus

Jul. 20, 2006 - The Ice Cream Diet

Jul. 16, 2006 - Ice Cream Sunday National Ice Cream Day

Sep. 19, 2005 - The Winner of the Vote for the Best Ice Cream in Columbus is...

Sep. 14, 2005 - What is the Best Ice Cream in Columbus?

soon.  From an email from the Capital Area Humane Society:

"Friday, June 22, 20067 marks the official "Take Your Dog to Work Day" this year, and it seems more and more people (and canines!) are trying to get involved in this relatively new, fun, and exciting venture. This is a wonderful concept for several reasons. Most obvious is the fact you get to spend the day with a favorite furry friend by your side. But it also helps the dog. Spending time in a new environment with relative strangers (or even not-too-often-seen friends) can help socialize your pet, getting him used to new faces, smells, and experiences.

So you want to become involved, but no one in your office seems aware of this day? Don't hesitate to approach your boss with the idea of bringing your dog, but make sure it's done carefully and thoughtfully. Keep in mind some working establishments just aren't well equipped for an animal to be there, whether it's due to the nature of the job, the people that visit, or the building itself. "

Do you think blogging about it on ActiveRain and forwarding it to Tom (an ActiveRain member) via mail from ActiveRain counts as approaching him?  Carefully? Thoughtfully?

We have lots of dog lovers in our office.  Top of the list is Elaine with her Murphy, a wiener dog (Dachshund?)   Then there's Murphy's distant relative Schotzi who is Bettsy's.  Bobbie Marie the Maltese who is Judi's. Long ago we had a woman in the office who had a great Dane.  I think that was when we started having a hard time sneaking dogs into the office. Eve has Sarge.  Tom is a dog lover, or his wife Kathy is anyway.  They have a Bichon? Or two Bichon?  

 That's MY Buddy.  Mutt. Adopted from the Capital Area Humane Society. 

Dogs just do things in the office... bark and worse.    

The TYDTWD site has a photo contest.  Elaine might have a photo or two of Murphy to submit.   

Real Living HER Worthington has such a nice big office backyard the neighbor dogs use... I've blogged about our backyard and the neighborhood dogs.

Columbus pet lover yet you are more feline inclined? Like a sweet quiet kitty cat who stays home?  Today on ColumbusBestBlog.com  I have  Columbus Cat Crisis.

To be announced shortly ...Take Your Blogger To Work Day?  Can you socialize them?

Most obvious is the fact you get to spend the day with a favorite furry (?) friend  by your side. But it also helps the blogger. Spending time in a new environment with relative strangers (or even not-too-often-seen friends) can help socialize your blogger, getting him used to new faces, smells, and experiences....

Good blogger!  

A Worthington Ohio Haunted House

Remember the allure of ghost stories when you were a kid?  Remember being a kid and there was a house in town that everyone told stories about?  Stories that it was a haunted house. Or the people who lived there were "different" or spooky or scary?  Remember ..you'd creep up to the front door on a dare? Knock on the front door? Ring the bell? Play 'ding dong, ditch"?  The  really 'wild kids' threw rocks at the windows or pulled other pranks?    

I'd  never heard the kids in Worthington considered a house on the south end of Worthington in the Davis Estate neighborhood "haunted."  I don't have children.  I wonder how many parents knew of their children's curiosity about the house at the edge of the cemetary.  When I heard the story in the news I thought "that house isn't old enough to be haunted."  It's in a post World War Two neighborhood. I think all the homes are cape cods, I showed a house up the street a couple of months ago.  There are some great old houses in Worthington...none are haunted as far as I know.  There are haunted "places" in Central Ohio... including Thurber House in Columbus.

A carload of high school girls went to the Worthington Ohio Haunted House one night this week and one of the five girls was shot, twice.    

The house is in Davis Estate, the man with the gun was named Allen Davis...  but that's just a coincidence. Haunted house, cheerleader, back to school time, it all makes an interesting story.   The headlines are all over the board and from all over the world: 

"Prank gone awry stuns Worthington" - Columbus Dispatch

"Teen Shot While Ghost-Hunting Was Having Harmless Fun, Father Says" - Fox News

"Ghost-hunting US teen shot in the head" -Toronto Star

"Shot in head in hunt for 'ghosts' " -Electric New Paper Singapore

"Loitering teen shot" - South Africa

"Teen shot in head at 'haunted' house" - Seattle Intelligencer

"Teen shot in head when looking for ghosts" - Sydney Morning Herald

"Dad laments daughter shot ghost hunting" - Leading The Charge, Australia

"Cheerleader Shows Signs Of Progress In Days After Shooting" - NBC4i.com,

"Haunted house dare gets cheerleader shot" - CNN International

"Uncle Of Shooting Victim Asks For Prayers" - Wheeling Intelligencer, WV

The story before "The Story." - "Family long considered outsiders by neighbors" 

I have been working on an entry about "blight" for my Columbus Best Blog.  Caron Mosey a REALTOR® in Michigan wrote a great blog article about Blight  It can be frustrating for neighbors.

One of my favorite movies growing up was "To Kill a Mockingbird" from the novel by the same name written by Harper Lee.  It is the story of three children in a small town in Alabama during the Depression.  Part of  the story is about their curiosity about their reclusive neighbor,  Boo Radley.  The children,  Jem, Dill, and Scout go out one night to try to peak into Boo Radley's back window.  As Jem is sneaking up on the house a gun shot rings out from inside the house.  No one is shot in 'Two Kill a Mockingbird.'  

I'm not blaming the victim...in the current Worthington tragedy.  Kids trespass on "spooky houses."  Or houses like the Davis home.   I Know I did as a kid. I believe most kids did.  Did you?    

As the Columbus Dispatch story shows the Davis family, including Allen Davis has been at odds with their neighbors and the city for years. "Family long considered outsiders by neighbors" says: A neighbor, who refused to give her name because she feared retribution for speaking out, called the shooting a tragedy for everyone. "I feel terrible for the high school student. I feel bad for Allen and his mother."   

     Maureen McCabe HER Real Living HER Worthington